Affordable and free education without boundaries |

Why education is important?

Education makes a difference in today’s world. If I have my way, education will not only be free, but will be universal and for everyone. We are far away from that dream of free education for all. There is little doubt that the richest countries educate their people. In some of the most developed economies, education is not only free, but compulsory until the age of 16. Free education provides a level playing field for everyone and not only the people who can afford it.

The higher the level of education of its citizens, the more advanced an economy is. There are several examples of this as we move into a global economy. We must not leave anyone behind in our race for a better world free of poverty.

The dream

Apart from the lofty dream of global accessible education, the reality is that education can be expensive and someone has to pay for it. Good teachers have to be paid and facilities cost money. Thanks to the internet that dream of accessible education is closer than ever before. If I have my way, books and the best of education will definitely be at a price that everyone will be able to afford.

This set me on a search for education that is easily available to everyone at the lowest affordable cost. How do we get the best institutions to put together their best courses and make those courses available globally irrespective of location at an affordable price? That is a tall order, but I was sure others will be thinking about ideas as well.

Quality is important as well as the price

It is one thing to have accessible education, but what about the quality of that education and then we the cost. If we have good quality education and its accessible, can most people afford it? So I went searching on Google and yes there are several companies offering these services, but I wanted the best brains as only the best will be good enough to meet the target.

The Open university (OU)

I am a fan of the Open university (OU). They were established over 50 years ago. I studied at the OU and know of several people who studied there too. I got a Post graduate diploma in management from the OU. You can check out the pedigree of the Open university online. I will leave a link below. It is the largest educational institution in the UK. It has over 220,000 current students. That is huge. It has taught over 1.8 million students since its inception in 1969.

But the Open university is geared for adult students who live in the UK (less than 10% of their students are overseas). It can also be expensive, yes you can study to PhD at the OU. I was looking for more than that. Then I found that Open University in association with some of the best universities in the world have come together to form FutureLearn.

The experts

This for me is a dream come true. Nothing is better than reasonable tuition. Yes not all courses are free on Futurelearn, but I have sampled several courses for free and I love them. Courses on entrepreneurship from King’s College, London. Nursing, finance, engineering and the list goes on.

There are options and other courses from the best of the universities. You can get a taster for 14 days. But their purpose, just like mine, ‘to transform access to education’. That was all I needed, I was sold on the idea. I really want to work with these people. For me, the future is already here.

Please click on the links here to get a taste of their courses and you can subscribe by paying a fixed amount a month to get access. Education does not have to come with a certificate, it is what you learn